InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Demon's Night ❯ In the Company of Devils: The Bloody Centenary, Part II ( Chapter 4 )

Demon's Night

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Chapter Four - In the Company of Devils: The Bloody Centenary, Part II

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The night was becoming increasingly menacing, Miroku thought grimly as he watched the moon and sky redden overhead.

He had slowly become aware of it only moments after the sun had set, and the light of day had waned completely. He'd felt rather than seen the shadows of the surrounding mountains creep with otherworldly coldness over the valley the forest lay nestled in.

Something was not right with this particular nightfall, and his ill feelings of foreboding were only intensified by the appearance of the wind demoness Kagura soon after InuYasha and Kagome left.

Even as he stood with Sango, preparing himself to do battle, he found himself wondering if the hellish cast to the sky truly did have anything to do with the arrival of Naraku's foul kin…and if his friends had already fallen prey to some trap nearby.

-

InuYasha wasn't as far away from Kagome as he should have been when his sensitive ears picked up what sounded like her muffled shriek.

Though he immediately turned back to go to her, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

She was probably just whining about something nibbling her toe, again…

InuYasha smirked. He'd left her alone at her bath for her own good. He knew he had no right to touch her, to want her as badly as he did - but it wouldn't take much more for him to lose himself and take her.

Imagine his surprise when he broke through the undergrowth lining the river bank and saw Sesshomaru with a struggling Kagome tucked into his side.

InuYasha's heart clenched with fear and anger. He charged after his brother with a low growl.

Sesshomaru made him pull up with a clawed hand held casually against Kagome's throat.

“Bastard! Let her go, or I'll rip your fucking head off!” he sneered, drawing his sword.

“I have no time to deal with the likes of you this night, InuYasha. The miko and I were just leaving.”

InuYasha brought up Tetsusaiga. “Yeah? Well, it looks to me like she don't wanna' go with you!”

“It matters not what she desires - she will do as I wish.”

“Pretty damned sure of yourself ,” InuYasha snorted. “What was Father thinking when he sired you? Talk about a wasted effort!”

“Do not shame our sire - his name is your only pride. Without it, you are little better than a beggar to your own kind.”

“InuYasha, please - !” Kagome abruptly cut herself off as Sesshomaru's hand tightened around her throat.

“Don't worry, Kagome. He's not takin' you anywhere!”

“Your tongue makes promises you cannot hope to keep, brother. I find humor in how you persist in following her around like a pup.”

“Apparently I'm not the only one followin' her around! Why don't you give it up, Sesshomaru? I told you! You're too cold and cruel-hearted for her. She'll never love you! Not like…” InuYasha paused, sending a hesitant, lingering, tender glance at Kagome as he finished, “not like she loves me!”

Kagome's eyes went wide.

InuYasha shifted uncomfortably, knowing he was the center of attention.

“What're you waitin' for, Kagome? Purify his ass!”

Sesshomaru carefully set her aside, and stood before InuYasha with an icy calm.

“She has already tried.”

“H-he's right, InuYasha! I can't do it! Something won't let me!”

“Huh?” InuYasha's eyebrows rose. That was when he noticed his brother had two, whole arms once again. What the fuck was going on?!

“InuYasha. I had not planned on executing you this night…but if you persist, I can do no less than oblige you.” The demon lord lifted his hand before his face, a faint, glowing green energy gleaming from his claw tips.

InuYasha looked at the pitiless, predatory light in his half-brother's eyes and something inside him cringed. He wasn't afraid for himself, but for Kagome. His gaze flicked to her.

“Kagome, run back to the others!”

“N-no! InuYasha!”

“I said, go, damn you!” he roared at her, frightening her into movement. He made certain she was running through the trees before he dared to move.

“Listen up, Sesshomaru, I don't know what you're after her for, but I'm gonna' put a stop to it, now!”

Sesshomaru lashed out, suddenly, not with his poison, but with his fist.

InuYasha, head spinning, hit the dirt, and jumped up in time to see Sesshomaru drifting off across the treetops in the direction Kagome had taken.

-

Kagome ran until her chest hurt and her throat was raw - when she made it back to the camp, she was horrified to see it destroyed, with no sign of her friends anywhere nearby.

“Miroku! Sango! Shippou? Where are you?” She tripped over a root in her frantic search, and fell hard to her knees. It was hard to get back up, so hard…

“Miko.”

Gasping in fear, Kagome rolled onto her back, only to see Sesshomaru hovering in the air above her. He looked magnificent, his sash and hair trailing wildly around his imposing figure.

“Sesshomaru, why are you doing this? What do you want?” she asked helplessly.

Making no effort to explain his actions, he set foot upon the ground, and reached down to her, and pulled her up and into his arms.

Kagome didn't have the strength to resist…much, anyway.

“Ses-sho-mar-u!” the enraged howl came from directly behind them.

Kagome felt the demon's grip tighten on her for an instant before he once again set her gently aside and turned to face InuYasha.

With a great leap, InuYasha skidded to an impressive halt before him, kicking up a spray of dirt and leaves as he used the point of the transformed Tetsusaiga to halt his momentum.

“Bastard! I told you to leave her alone! I won't let your cruelness touch her!”

 

 

Sesshomaru made no other movement than a faint flick of his thumb against the guard of his sword - to unsheathe the deadly Tokijin. The mystical energy of the sword sang out as it was pulled free.

“This Sesshomaru is cruel? You have it wrong, brother. You are the cruel one, pretending an affection you do not feel.”

“She wasn't meant for you!” InuYasha snarled, preparing to swing his sword.

His words made something snap inside Sesshomaru, and his eyes flashed blood red as he engaged in the attack with Tokijin.

Kagome rushed in to part them. “No! Don't do this! Something's wrong, here! Something's not - AAH!” She cried out as InuYasha's shoulder accidentally caught her chin, and she went flying backwards to land on the scarred ground. She felt the world fade out around her, and lost consciousness even as her mind cried out for InuYasha.

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InuYasha saw Kagome go down, and damned himself for not being more careful. His eyes rounded in horror as he turned to see her laying there, wrapped in only the protection of his shirt, her jaw already beginning to bruise.

“If you have injured her, I shall make your death long and painful,” Sesshomaru shocked him by snarling across the clearing.

“Fuck you! I blame this on you! It's your fault she got hurt!”

Sesshomaru didn't bother with words to make his displeasure known.

From their vantage point on a rise many yards away, too far for human ears to hear the demons words, a slightly injured Miroku and Sango stood with Shippou and a high-strung Kirara.

Kagura had flown the moment she'd seen Sesshomaru enter the clearing below, so it was safe to say they had time for a rest - a short one, no doubt as Miroku feared Naraku was coming ever closer.

“I've never seen Sesshomaru so upset before. I wonder if InuYasha said something to disturb him?” Miroku looked on in awe as the two mighty demons fought.

“Do you think?” Sango rolled her eyes, and cried out as Kirara suddenly growled and took off down the slope. “Kirara!”

“We gotta' do something!” cried an agitated Shippou.

“Somehow I do not think InuYasha would appreciate our interference at this - “

“Look! Kagome's down there! Is she hurt?!”

Sango gasped. “She looks unconscious!”

“We must go to her,” Miroku exclaimed, and the three companions started down the slope after Kirara - only to slide to an abrupt halt as they saw the demon cat crash against something at the bottom.

“What - what is it?!” Sango asked, running to the cat's side.

Mirkou looked up and around, and finally straight ahead - to lock gazes with the Lord of the West.

“We cannot pass,” Miroku finally said darkly. “Sesshomaru has placed a barrier around us.”

“What? No! Kagome!” Shippou raced to the barrier, and bounced right off it again, bruising his nose and his pride in the process.

Sango tried the same, and met with the same problem. “No! Why is he doing this? Is he after the Tetsusaiga again?”

“Somehow I have my doubts,” Miroku murmured.

-

“Hn. You remain, as ever, the consummate unrepentant show-off, InuYasha,” Sesshomaru told the hanyou disdainfully after yet another failed attack.

Sesshomaru smiled thinly and took his foot off the back of InuYasha's head, leaving the hanyou half-conscious in the dirt, the Tetsusaiga imbedded in a tree several feet away.

“Worry not, little brother. I shall return her when I am through with her.”

Sesshomaru was turning away towards Kagome when he felt a slight movement from InuYasha. He looked over to see InuYasha rising again, despite his battle-ravaged state, only this time he was not half-human.

“You will die if you insist on fighting me like this, brother,” he told the red-eyed creature before him. “I say this for your sake.”

InuYasha, in his transformed demon state, did not show any signs of hearing, or understanding. His eyes, and the jagged purple streaks on his cheeks, glowed as he flung himself forward, his lengthened claws aiming for Sesshomaru's throat.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, and he brought up Tokijin to deal a fatal blow.

“Sesshomaru, please, don't!”

Kagome was awake. Sesshomaru drew up on the strike - if he killed the hanyou before her, she would never truly be his.

“Graaaaah!” InuYasha was slavering like a crazed beast as he attacked, and Sesshomaru sheathed Tokijin with two, neat, stylized strokes before he began moving too fast for InuYasha to hit.

He thought to wear the half-breed down, but it soon became obvious InuYasha would not be calmed. When next his brother came near enough to strike, Sesshomaru did so - but as soon as his blow landed, he knew something had gone wrong. InuYasha had been moving towards him too fast, with too much momentum, and along with the strength of his blow…

InuYasha flew through the air and hit the forest ground with a thud, skidding many yards through the carpet of pine needles and dirt before sliding to rest on the soft grass under the bowing branches of an ancient tree.

“InuYasha!” Kagome cried out, tears of fear and pain tumbling from the corners of her eyes as she rushed to the fallen half-demon.

Sesshomaru need not bother with such antics - he had felt the snap of bone as his powerful blow connected with InuYasha's jaw, heard the fateful crack as his brother's head snapped back on his neck with incredible force, seen the shocked light in his crimson-red eyes as life instantly drained from them.

He knew the hanyou was dead.

“InuYasha!”

Kagome threw herself down next to him, skinning her knees and drawing blood, but the clearly the pain did not matter to her. When it came to the hanyou, it never did.

Sesshomaru felt his anger rise as a new scent came to his nose.

She was weeping for him.

“He demeans you, favors another, a being far less worthy, over you, and yet you weep for him?” Sesshomaru barely kept himself from hissing the words as his youkai rose to the fore. He was still furious that she had let InuYasha get away with his verbal abuse of her from earlier in the day.

“It makes this Sesshomaru wonder what measure of violence I could commit upon you, miko, and still receive the compassion of your tears.”

When he looked back at her, his expression was once again cold, focused, his bearing noble and self-contained.

“You will follow this Sesshomaru.”

Still crying, Kagome sent a desperate glance at the frighteningly still InuYasha, laying in the crimson moonlight.

She still did not realize the crude creature was lifeless…but, Sesshomaru found that he did not wish her to find out. Her unwarranted grief would be an annoying hindrance to his plans for her this night.

“Kagome-sama!”

“Kagome!”

The shouts of her companions on the slope behind him drew the miko's eyes.

Sesshomaru's fingers twitched upon his blade. “Now, miko, or I shall strike him dead where he lay.”

Her eyes flashed with anger as she looked at him, and she blinked several times before straightening her back and fisting her hands and walking towards him, each step, though obviously determined, clearly difficult for her because every instinct in her was screaming at her to go back to InuYasha. She was not used to walking away when the hanyou needed her.

Sesshomaru's eyes flashed with determined fire. She would walk away this time.

-

Miroku watched Kagome walk towards them with Sesshomaru and felt a great surge of fear.

“Don't do this Kagome-sama! I fear he intends to do you much evil!” Miroku shouted, desperately fighting against the barrier, Sango and little Shippou alongside him.

Sesshomaru paused and looked over him with an arched brow. “No more evil than you yourself wish to inflict upon her, monk.” With that cryptic statement, he continued walking past them with Kagome, never again sparing them so much as a glance.

For Miroku it took a moment to understand the hidden meaning in the demon lord's words, and when he did, his went wide and panicked, his efforts against the barrier doubling, even though he had little more to give.

“No! Kagome!”

-

Sesshomaru reached for the miko, ignoring the cries behind him.

He held his hand out to her, but she refused to take it - instead, in a sudden fit of temper she slapped it away, and then gasped and winced when he once again grasped her throat in a threatening hold.

He took both her wrists in his one-handed grip and cruelly squeezed them until the tips of his claws bit into the skin.

“You will not recoil from my touch as if it were tainted!” Sesshomaru snapped at her through his fangs. He was still infuriated by the evidence of the depths of her emotions for his undeserving brother.

Kagome slumped against him, her tears soaking the delicate silk of his sleeve as he wrapped his arms around her and they both rose into the night.

He chose to ignore the fact that she twisted her head around to look after the fallen hanyou until the clearing was long from her sight.

-

“What did Sesshomaru take Kagome away for?” Shippou asked tearfully as the two disappeared from sight.

Miroku opened his mouth to explain, but shut it just as fast on a warning glare from Sango.

“I'll explain it to you one day when we can speak man to man,” he said instead, reaching out a comforting hand to pat the top of the kitsune's head. What Sesshomaru really wanted Kagome for…it didn't bear thinking about.

“InuYasha! InuYasha!” Shippou shook his head as he pounded his fists on the indestructible barrier. “Why won't InuYasha wake up?” he whimpered, leaning his forehead against it in frustration as he stared hard at the unmoving crimson clad form now laying in the shadows across the moonlit clearing.

Over the little kitsune's head, Miroku met Sango's suddenly enlightened glance with his own grim one, and he shook his head even as he fought not to fall to his knees in grief over the friend he instinctively knew they'd lost this night. They had to stay strong for one another - especially since he could sense the presence of Naraku uncomfortably near.

It was better that the young one believe that there was still hope.

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To be continued in Chapter Five - In the Company of Devils: The Bloody Centenary, Part III

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Many Thanks to naughtyangel, HeartStar, and InuYashasLoveLorn for taking a moment to review. I truly appreciate it!

DarkMe - I know, cliffhangers are cruel, but I DO secretly love them! It gives me something to look forward to, LOL! Thanks so much for reviewing!

TheAlmightyAya-sama - I'm sorry about the cliffie, it was mean. I hope you liked this chapter, though! Thanks!

Tara - You are my hero! Thanks so much for the lovely thought. I would definitely have taken you up on that offer, if a certain someone hadn't brought home a new copy of MS Office. I think my frustrated crying made him feel bad - or it just scared him. (“Please stop, honey, whatever you want, I'll get whatever you want!”) Whatever, it worked, right? ^_~ I'm really not mean and manipulative…often. We're talking fan-fic, here! InuYasha fan-fic! It had to be done! You are a darling. Thanks for your kindness!

Cute_but_Demented - LOL Thanks for the inspiration. (Er…you, uh, weren't serious, right? Right?!) ^_~

SKELLY JELLY BELLY - Hm. I'm not really that huge of a hentai fan, either (SHE LIES!). LOL! I do believe in a more romantic type of Lemon, though. Hot, yet well-written? There's gotta' be luuuuv. I don't want to say `tasteful', `cause that'd be boring, LOL. Anyway, thanks for reviewing. The part where InuYasha hugs Kagome in the last chapter was one of my favorite scenes, too. I'm a sucker for the bittersweet.

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Next chapter up soon - I have most of it written already, so it should be up sometime this weekend, or early next week. Just to show I'm not completely mean, here's a little - as yet unedited, mind you - taste of what's coming up next. Please keep in mind that it is subject to changes! I still need to work on scenery and detail, and all that fun stuff. Hope you like it! Later! ^_~

D.V.

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Preview

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It wasn't a mating in the usual sense he wanted, he tried to convince himself. He was curious about her. It was desire, and yet, not even that. He would take her body, pleasure her in return for his use of it, and then forget her. He wouldn't allow their involvement to deepen. As if it could. She was human, and therefore, otherwise beneath his notice. He refused to allow himself to fall into the same trap as his father.

His furious glance was drawn to the pale, slender curve of her neck. He caught the sweet, damp scent of her hair and felt his body tighten.

It was far too late for that nonsense, and he knew it.

“You think of him.”

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Kagome hid her eyes behind her lashes. “Who?”

“My brother. InuYasha.”

“Yes.” Kagome didn't bother to deny it.

Sesshomaru looked at her in carefully controlled censure.

“Is it truly so abhorrent, the thought of submitting to me?”

“I-I'm not! I won't, I mean! I don't want you!”

“Do you think InuYasha wants you?”

Kagome stopped panicking long enough to look at him. Something in the tone of his voice had drawn her notice. His tone hadn't changed, but something told her that he was dangerously on edge at the moment…

She was right. His face was blank, but he had an expression in his eyes that Kagome was sure would have frozen a volcano.

“You're…you're just doing this to hurt him. You're jealous of him!”

Despite the deliberate insult, his suddenly coolly composed face showed absolutely nothing - no hint of offence, dislike, and not even annoyance.

“Perhaps, in some small way,” he shocked her by admitting. “I do not care enough about InuYasha to wonder if my taking you hurts him or not. It is my…curiosity about you that brought us to this.”

“Why are you suddenly so curious about me? You've only tried to kill me a hundred times!”

Sesshomaru tilted his head as he looked at her with a bland, yet slightly rebuking expression. “A large exaggeration on your part, miko,” he responded tonelessly.

“So…why?”

“You wish to know why? I have dreamed of you. Of your taste, your scent.”

“You-you've dreamed of me?” she sounded panicked. She switched tactics, and didn't allow him to respond.

“I don't care what you say! He won't be happy about this! I won't let him feel guilty about this, I'll go to Kaede, and get a spell of forgetting, something - !”

At this his predator's eyes twitched, and then narrowed in speculation. “Hm. Then perhaps I will not allow you to leave in the morning, after all.”

Kagome swallowed.

Would there be anything left of her in the morning, anyway?

“He'll come for me! It doesn't matter!”

“Will he?”

“O-of course he will!”

Sesshomaru's already narrowed eyes thinned to gleaming slits. “InuYasha doesn't know how fortunate he is to have you. If you were my mate I'd keep you in our private chambers at all times.”

Shaken by the idea, Kagome stared at him. `In `our' private chambers? Did he really just say that?'

“I couldn't allow another male around you without risking his life,” Sesshomaru elaborated, not taking his eyes from her for an instant. “It truly is a pity you were not youkai-born.”

Kagome nearly bit her tongue in two holding back her response to that, but she'd noticed that far from being annoyed by her little tirades lately, he'd actually seemed amused by them! So, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction…!

“Go on, miko,” the tai-youkai murmured. “Say what you wish before you choke upon it.”

“Fine! I will, then! I like being human, thanks very much!” Kagome exploded.

“Truly? You have no wish to be immortal?”

“No way. I think immortality would be incredibly boring after a while. I don't see how you demons can stand it! Besides, if being immortal makes you all arrogant, and demanding, and act like you're better than everyone else, I'll definitely pass, thanks!”

Red fires suddenly blazed in the molten gold pools of his eyes, their flames licking over her startled face.

“Come.” He held out his hand.

“W-why?”

His eyes narrowed dangerously. “You will come to me. Tonight you have no choice. You must do as you are bidden.”

“Hey! I'm not your slave!”

“Your impertinence is staggering.” Sesshomaru was becoming angry, but his soft, seductive tone showed no sign of it.

“Just let me go! I need to get back to InuYasha! He could be really hurt!”

“InuYasha will have you for the rest of his existence - he can let me have you for this one night.”

“No!”

“You are in danger.”

“Of what?!”

“Pushing this Sesshomaru too far.”

He flipped her easily onto her back, and pressing a muscled thigh between hers, he subdued her struggles.

His body was lean and warm. She felt the hilts of his swords bite into her hip.

“I want you, Kagome…”

Kagome's face caught fire.

“Tend me.”

“T-tend you?” Kagome's face twisted in confusion. “You want me to cook for you?”

“Hn. You truly are an innocent, aren't you?” Sesshomaru pulled back a little, one brow arching mockingly.

“I want you to touch me.”

Kagome was shocked, but she really did find herself wanting to touch him. Hands shaking, disbelieving, she did as he asked, running hesitant fingertips over his perfect facial features, down his throat - which made him growl warningly - across his silk-clad chest, over the delicate points of his ears.

When she touched his hair, she could have sworn she felt a shiver run through him, but before she could think about it, he'd pushed her hands away.

“Enough.”

His head was bent, his hair a concealing wall between them.

Kagome sucked in a shuddering breath.

She knew she was in real trouble when he quietly shifted the swords in his sash to lay on the soft grass beside him…

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